The Montclair City Council green-lighted a plan to completely transform Montclair Place with free-standing retail buildings, a new thoroughfare for outdoor shopping surrounded by residential towers up to 20 stories tall, a hotel, office buildings and new parks.
A Montclair Place District Specific Plan, adopted unanimously by the City Council on Monday, Sept. 21, encompasses 104.4 acres bounded by Monte Vista Avenue on the west, the 10 Freeway on the south, Central Avenue on the east and Moreno Street on the north.
The 20-year plan includes zone changes that would allow for demolition of the interior of the enclosed mall and possibly the empty department stores, namely Sears and Nordstrom.
A maximum of 6,321 housing units are envisioned by the plan, a major change. These would consist of a combination of apartments, homes and high-rise condos — which could bring significant growth to the city of 39,437 people.
Also, the plan calls for adding 512,000 square feet of commercial space and a 100- to 200-room hotel.
The high-concept mixed-use design would create a new downtown for Montclair. It’s main feature is a street, or Rambla, with a large tree-lined median with angled parking for pop-up restaurants, stores and a farmer’s market, patterned after a street in Barcelona, Spain.
The Rambla would be located north of the mall and connect Fremont Avenue and San Jose Street. It would be flanked by mixed-use buildings with retail on the ground floor and residential on the upper floors, according to the plan.
On the western side would be row houses, residential blocks and neighborhood parks and a grand median connecting Monte Vista Avenue to the Rambla and the existing Montclair TransCenter, just north of Arrow Highway.
At the area occupied by the mall, called the District Center, the plan calls for residential buildings between five and 20 stories in height. Retail buildings and entertainment uses on the ground floor “will eventually replace those of the Montclair Place Mall,” the plan states. Large parking structures would create one-stop parking allowing visitors to park, then walk to shop, eat or watch a movie.
As a final phase, within the District Place to be located in the southern section, the plan calls for transforming surface parking lots into office, research and development buildings.
“Many years from now, we will be enjoying one of the great downtowns in Southern California,” said Stefanos Polyzoides, principal with Moule & Polyzoides, an architecture and urban planning firm based in Pasadena that designed the plan, during the special council meeting Monday.
He compared the new Montclair downtown and mall to Old Pasadena, downtown Beverly Hills and The Grove in Los Angeles. These districts combine outdoor shopping and eateries with residential development in a pedestrian-friendly space, he said.
The owners of the 1.2 million-square-foot mall, CIM Group, has worked on the plan with the urban planning firm and City Hall, after realizing a concept unveiled a few years ago needed to be revamped.
“It has become apparent now more than ever to address the changing nature of retail and to reinvent the mall long term,” said John Prystasz, associate for development with CIM. “While also addressing the housing shortage we are facing in California.”
The plan creates a blueprint for developers. However, it will take at least 20 years to fulfill, said City Manager Ed Starr.
Polyzoides said getting developers to propose new buildings will be tough since there are many different land owners. “It would start with land owned by CIM,” he said.
A key component is building a connection to the Montclair TransCenter, where buses and Metrolink trains connect to San Bernardino and Riverside as well as the San Gabriel Valley. But the plan mentions the importance of a light-rail connection at the train station, namely the “L” Line formerly called the Gold Line, which stretches from Los Angeles to Pasadena and soon to Pomona, but lacks $550 million to reach Claremont and Montclair.
“The Gold Line will be essential,” said Montclair Councilman Bill Ruh. “We must push for it. It is the only way we will get the growth we need in that area.”
The Montclair Place started as the Montclair Plaza in 1968, with The Broadway, May Co. and J.C. Penney Co. as anchors. Today, only the latter remains. It was the first mall in the Inland Empire and put the city on the map, Ruh said.
“People will feel sentimental about the Montclair Place not existing in the way they are used to,” Councilwoman Corysa Martinez said.
Overhauling the mall is necessary for its future and the city’s financial health, according to Mayor John Dutrey. He said the project will be a first-of-its-kind for the Inland Empire.
“We are taking a risk but a very good risk for the city of Montclair,” Dutrey said.
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A 20-year plan for Montclair Place calls for 6,300 residential units - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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